Nutritional Education in the Midwife's Consultation Room.

Evidence of the importance of maternal nutrition during pregnancy is growing, and midwives are the healthcare professionals in charge of monitoring pregnancy. In the present review, the aim is therefore to look at the relevant contributions on midwifery and the role of midwifery in the provision of nutritional education. Searches were conducted on three databases-Medline, PubMed Central, and Web of Science-using two key search terms ("nutrition" and "midwives") and their synonyms, for an extensive set of results. The final selection consisted of 27 original papers, most of which concerned the nutritional knowledge of midwives, their training, and their views, attitudes, and practices within the field of nutrition. According to the findings, although the midwives considered nutritional education to be part of their role and they agreed on the importance of nutrition during pregnancy, their knowledge of this topic was poor, perhaps due to inadequate nutritional education during their midwifery training. Academic programs on midwifery must therefore be reviewed, so as to increase the workload of nutrition-related subjects, in order to reinforce the corresponding knowledge bases of future midwives. In addition, based on the success of the nutritional interventions discussed in the present review, these sorts of initiatives could be of utmost importance to improve the knowledge of practicing midwives. In any case, it must be highlighted that the available evidence discussed in this review was drawn from only a few countries around the world. Further studies involving midwives of varied origins are therefore needed. Such research would be of immense assistance in the design of the corresponding nutritional interventions in the field, so as to improve the health of pregnant women.

Relationship between color and betalain content in different thermally treated beetroot products.

Several health benefits are currently attributed to natural pigments that give fruit and vegetables their inherently colorful properties. Color measurements might therefore serve as quick indicators of the potential health-promoting properties of such foods. Nevertheless, the relationship between color and pigment content depends on the type of matrix and pigment, as well as the factors affecting their interaction, which calls for further investigation. Hence, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between color parameters and betalain content in three commonly consumed beetroot products (beetroot juice, beetroot puree and whole beetroot), subjected to thermal treatment. Our results showed a negative correlation between the total betalain content and the color parameters L*, a*, b*, chroma, and hue angle in beetroot juice, beetroot puree and whole beetroot. Two chromatic parameters, a* and chroma, are proposed as the best descriptors for the betalain concentrations of these products. Likewise, the tristimulus L/ab combination for the juice is also suggested as a good descriptor. Our findings highlighted that the relationship between color and total betalain content depended on the beetroot product under assessment, with the strongest correlations found for the juice. Squeezed beetroot was therefore suggested as an alternative to improve this relationship in more complex matrices such as whole cooked beetroots. Useful information from color determination sheds light on the relationship between color and betalain pigments in beetroot, suggesting that color determination could be used as an indicator of betalain content.

Effect of oleic acid on store-operated calcium entry in immune-competent cells.

PURPOSE: To study the mechanism by which oleic acid (OA) (C18:1) exerts its beneficial effects on immune-competent cells. Since store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is a Ca2+ influx pathway involved in the control of multiple physiological processes including cell proliferation, we studied the effect of OA in Ca2+ signals of Jurkat T cells and THP-1 monocytes, paying particular attention to SOCE. METHODS: Changes in [Ca2+]i were measured using the Fura-2 fluorescence dye. Mn2+ uptake was monitored as a rate of quenching of Fura-2 fluorescence measured at the Ca2+-insensitive wavelengths. Thapsigargin was used to induce SOCE in Fura-2-loaded cells. RESULTS: We showed a clear dose-dependent SOCE-inhibitory effect of OA in both cell lines. Such an inhibitory effect was PKC independent and totally restored by albumin, suggesting that OA exerts its effect somewhere in the membrane. We also demonstrated that OA induces increases in [Ca2+]i partly mediated by an extracellular Ca2+ influx through econazole-insensitive channels. Finally, we compared the effect of OA with stearic acid (C18:0), assuming the emerged evidence concerning the link between saturated fats and inflammation disorders. Stearic acid failed to inhibit SOCE, independently on the concentration tested, thus intensifying the physiological relevance of our findings. CONCLUSION: We suggest a physiological pathway for the beneficial effects of OA in inflammation.

Evolution of hydroxymethylfurfural content of honeys from different climates: influence of induced granulation.

Knowing the 'best-before period once opened' is of paramount importance for consumers, because it gives information about how long a given food keeps its quality. The hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content is related to honey's aging and heating. We researched the evolution of HMF of 60 unheated honeys originating from continental and oceanic climate areas, recording the moment at which the HMF increase begins to speed up. We also researched the influence of induced granulation on HMF evolution. All samples were stored at room temperature and analysed every 5 months throughout 30 months. Storage had an effect on HMF contents. On the contrary, induced granulation did not show any influence on this parameter. HMF constantly increased in all samples but much more markedly after 20 months. At 20 months, the percentages of samples with HMF higher than 40 mg/kg ranged between 2.9% and 8.0%. Nevertheless, at 25 months these percentages clearly increased, ranging from 22.9% to 72.0%. For honeys from both the continental and oceanic climate areas, taking HMF contents into account, 20 months could be proposed as the 'best-before period once opened'.